The Bullet Train is coming. Voters approved it and politicians
want it. The only question seems to be where it will be located as
it makes its way north from Los Angeles through the Bay Area.
The only question seems to be where the tracks will be located
The Bullet Train is coming. Voters approved it and politicians want it. The only question seems to be where it will be located as it makes its way north from Los Angeles through the Bay Area. No one yet knows which route the 220 mph train will take as it comes through Morgan Hill. A number of options are under consideration in the project’s preliminary stages, including one that might plow through the city of Morgan Hill’s soccer fields east of U.S. 101. The total cost of the high-speed train project is now projected at about $45 billion, with partial funding from a $10 billion bond. It will connect the Bay Area and Los Angeles with express trains making the trek in about two hours, 40 minutes, according to California High Speed Rail Authority officials.
Routes options vary as does whether it will be trenched, at grade or raised
So, now is the time to let HSRA officials know your preferred route and whether you want it at ground level – protected on both sides by an 8-foot fence – raised or trenched. Should it go through downtown Morgan Hill along the current Union-Pacific tracks? Should it run along the east side of U.S. 101 through the city’s Outdoor Sports Complex on Condit Road, as one map shows? An ongoing Environmental Impact Report process will more accurately determine the impact on the recreational area, hotels and other businesses on the east side of the freeway.
It’s important to let authorities know now what you think
Some South County residents were perplexed at the volume and intricacy of information presented at a recent meeting. Gilroy resident Jesse Arias studied the maps in hopes of finding out how close the new train will come to his neighborhood. “What’s going to be the impact on us, parking- and traffic-wise?” said Arias, 52, who lives close to the Caltrain station on Monterey Street in downtown Gilroy. “We get a lot of noise from the trains that are there now. How bad will it be when they change the neighborhood by putting that (bullet train) in there?”
That’s why it’s important to speak out now.
